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Working your sphere of influence and connecting with your community are small steps that can make a huge impact on your lead generation strategy, speakers at Inman Connect Las Vegas said during a panel on Tuesday entitled “How to Generate Leads, No Matter What Market You’re In.”
Katie Day of the Movemetotx Team at Real Broker said one of her go-to strategies is to distribute content to her sphere that shows proof of her team’s success, but also a connection to the community.
Katie Day
“I think highlighting the community and personal stuff is really important [too],” Day told moderator Amie Quirarte of Tahoe Luxury Properties.
During COVID, speaker Cara Ameer of Coldwell Banker said she beefed up her video offerings because of the demand for sight-unseen sales, but also used that as an opportunity to use video as a storytelling medium.
“I was trying to keep that content going to keep my sphere energized,” Ameer said. In addition, it helped her gain a new following.
“We definitely doubled down on video,” Day added. The Movemetotx Team created video tours of homes, but also made videos with information about current market conditions as they changed, “really focusing on ways to help our clients,” she added.
As the market continues to change this year, Ameer said she’d be keeping her eye out for ways to create a connection between her two markets of Florida and California through individuals in her existing network (like many, Ameer said she decided to migrate during the pandemic, to California).
Cara Ameer
“I think a big strategy that I’ve learned to employ is to look for synergies in your lead generation,” Ameer said. “So I’m really leaning into my existing sphere [in Florida] to help catapult my California business.”
Hunkering down on her database has been fruitful for Day during the pandemic, in terms of generating leads, and is a strategy she said the team would carry with them going forward. In addition, the team has been hosting a number of virtual events, and towards the end of this year, plans to bring back some in-person events outdoors.
“I think people overthink it a lot,” Day said of connecting with your sphere of influence. She said many of her agents are uncertain how to talk to past clients, but she said it just starts with a simple conversation asking them how they’re doing.
She and Quirarte noted that it’s ok, too, to focus on past clients who you had success or a connection with — and let those whose name you cringe at fade into the background.
Amie Quirarte
Ameer added that meeting past clients at their communication comfort level is a strategy that tends to create the best outcomes for everyone. That could mean engaging with them on any number of social media platforms, or sending them a text to check in.
“I think it’s staying engaged with them and meeting them wherever they are and how they like to communicate,” Ameer said.
In closing, the two speakers offered tangible takeaways for audience members to implement in their own lead gen this year.
“I think the biggest thing would be consistency in whatever you’re going to do,” Day said. Whether it’s five calls a day, a week, or a month, just be consistent.
“Find commonalities and content that touches on real estate and your own passions,” Ameer added. By connecting the two, agents can more easily attract the types of clients that they’ll work well with.
And whether or not either of them pay for leads?
Day admitted the team does occasionally pay for leads, but about 85 percent of the team’s business is organic.
“I’ve never paid for leads,” Ameer said. “I’ve never been a believer in feeding the beast.”
Update: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated Katie Day’s brokerage as Coldwell Banker. She is now affiliated with Real Broker.
